This invention relates to fluid guns, and specifically to fluid toy guns which utilize compressed air to launch a projectile or to propel a stream of water.
Toy guns which shoot or launch projectiles have been very popular for many years. These guns have been designed to launch projectiles in a number of ways. A common method of launching has been by the compression of a spring which propels the projectile upon its decompression or release, as, for example, with BB guns and dart guns. These guns however usually do not generate enough force to launch projectiles with great velocity.
Toy guns have also been designed which use compressed air to launch projectiles such as foam darts. These types of guns use a reciprocating air pump to pressurize air within a pressure tank. In use, a single dart is loaded and the pump is typically reciprocated several times with each firing of the gun. Therefore, the gun must be loaded and pumped with each firing as it is not capable of firing several darts in rapid sequence. The rapid firing of a gun may be desired for those playing a mock war or other type of competition. Small children however quickly become tired due to having to actuate the pumping mechanism of these guns in a continuous manner. A child may also forget to repressurize the gun following its actuation, thereby rendering the gun inoperable at a later time when the child desires to fire a projectile. As such, the child must quickly actuate the pumping mechanism in order to fire the projectile.
Toy guns have also been designed which produce a stream of water and hence are commonly referred to as water guns. The most simple method of ejecting water has been with the actuation of a manual pump coupled to the trigger of the gun. The pump is actuated by the mere pressure exerted by one finger of an operator upon the trigger, thus the pump typically cannot generate enough pressure to eject the water a lengthy distance. Additionally, these types of pumps work on the actuation of a compression piston which create single, short bursts of water. However, many children desire the production of an extended stream of water.
Water guns have also been designed with small electric pumps which expel a stream of water from a tube coupled to the pump, as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,706,848 and 4,743,030. However, these small electric pumps typically do not generate enough force to eject the stream of water a lengthy distance.
Water guns have also been designed with a pressure tank adapted to hold water therein and a manual air pump for supplying a volume of pressurized air into the pressure tank. Again, with extended use of these guns a small child may become quite tired having to continuously actuate the pumping mechanism continuously with each firing of the gun. Furthermore, here again, a child may forget to pressurize the pressure tank and thus be unable to fire the gun at a desired time.
Accordingly, it is seen that a need remains for a toy fluid gun which may be pressurized in a quick and efficient manner. It is to the provision of such therefore that the present invention is primarily directed.
In a preferred form of the invention a compressed air gun for firing projectiles comprises an electric power source, an electrically motorized air pump coupled to the electric power source, a pressure chamber in fluid communication with the air pump, a launch tube in fluid communication with the pressure chamber, a release valve in fluid communication with the launch tube which controls the release of pressurized air from the pressure chamber to the launch tube, and trigger means for actuating the release valve. The gun also has pressure sensitive actuation means in fluid communication with the pressure chamber for sensing the air pressure associated with the pressure chamber and energizing the motorized air pump when the sensed air pressure is within a select pressure range.